M-73 user from Singapore

[m73user]

Hello fellow members,

I am a bushcraft enthusiast and novice whose experience has almost all been in Southeast Asia. I lived in the UK for five years as a student, but I did not concentrate on bushcraft during that time.

My main reason for joining Bushcraft UK is that I own and use the Francis Barker M-73, the UK-made prismatic compass which The Map Reading Co calls an engineering masterpiece.

I first used it in my country's armed forces and fell in love with it. Today, I own three of them (all slightly different, manufactured in different periods) plus a partial fourth unit missing some parts.

Besides navigating with the M-73s and topographic maps, I have some experience taking them apart and servicing them, and am actively accumulating practical knowledge in this area.

On this forum I hope to exchange ideas and experiences on the use and maintenance of the M-73 if and when there is any interest in the topic.

Thank you!

Best regards,
Lin

 

[C_Claycomb]

Hello and welcome to the forum!

£200-£600 for a compass. Wow. A whole new premium shiny thing I had no idea existed. No danger of me buying one though!

Hope you enjoy the place. You might like some of Stuart’s old posts. He lived in Brunei and guided in the jungle.

Chris

 

[Falstaff]

Welcome M73, yes they are the dogs do da's, lovely bits of kit. Somewhere I have the British Army WW2 square Bakerlite marching compass, lovely kit but not a patch on the Francis Barker's.

 

[demented dale]

welcome. and enjoy x

 

[John Fenna]

Hello and welcome!

 

[crosslandkelly]

Hi Lin, welcome and enjoy.

 

[Mesquite]

Hello and welcome to the forum

 

[Pattree]

Hi, Welcome.

 

[SCOMAN]

Love an M73, alas I think I have lost a luminous marker and I have a bubble. Welcome

 

[MrEd]

Hello and welcome, I have a couple of Francis barkers - a 1916 lensatic and a 1942 liquid filled prismatic

 

[m73user]

Thank you everyone for the warm welcome.

£200-£600 for a compass. Wow. A whole new premium shiny thing I had no idea existed. No danger of me buying one though!

Hope you enjoy the place. You might like some of Stuart’s old posts. He lived in Brunei and guided in the jungle.

Most people in Singapore buy cars instead. Each costs more than £100,000 excluding road tax, maintenance, insurance, fuel, environmental damage and traffic jams. Then they spend years paying off their debt.

Meanwhile I'm having so much fun with the M-73 that I'm actually losing sleep. The compasses have paid me back much more than what I spent on them.

Thanks for referring me to Stuart. I found his handle and followed him.

Love an M73, alas I think I have lost a luminous marker and I have a bubble.

One of my M-73s is in a similar condition, and it is impractical for me to get it serviced by the factory that currently makes M-73s (Pyser Optics). Another service agent was Paul Crespel of Trade Mark London, but he recently retired from servicing compasses.

I am in the midst of a project to establish my own procedures to repair M-73s properly. We can discuss more if anyone is considering self-repair.

I have a couple of Francis barkers - a 1916 lensatic and a 1942 liquid filled prismatic

The 1942 instrument already had many of the design features of the M-73, which makes it interesting for me as I am curious how the design evolved. The changes in external features are obvious, but I am also fascinated with internal components like the prism, which is perhaps going too far off topic!

 

[MrEd]

It’s a big shame there isn’t an alternative to trademark. They services and repaired my ww2 one (mkiii?) probably 20 years ago. I used to actually carry and use it, but have retired it as a display item now. It’s still accurate. Lovely items, I can see why you are smitten with them

 

[MrEd]

Actually @m73user - a question about Singapore import laws - can I send a collectible 1899 military folding jack knife to Singapore? What I have read says ‘not without police permission’ so have sent it to my colleague for friend as I fear it being confiscated

 

[m73user]

can I send a collectible 1899 military folding jack knife to Singapore? What I have read says ‘not without police permission’ so have sent it to my colleague for friend as I fear it being confiscated

I think you can. A jack knife blade isn't that long and it's not controlled like guns or night vision. You can buy all kinds of knives in Singapore without a licence so there would be no point stopping them coming in from outside. I once bought a Morakniv bushcraft knife from overseas and there was no glitch at all. Even if they had a problem with it they would probably return it to sender rather than confiscate it.